Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1509370
OCTOBER 11-17, 2023 UCW 17 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM for voting us Best Sports Team! Join the best f the 2024 SEASON THANK Y U fayettevillewoodpeckers.com | (910) 339-1989 | woodpeckers@astros.com Doula Fair to be held by AMBER LITTLE Birth is the culmination of months of balancing life while making sure to take care of oneself and baby for women around the world. What is supposed to be a beautiful day, ending with a new member of the family, is producing a vastly different outcome for black and indigenous people of color and their families. The Doula Fair presented by Black Birth Rising Inc. and Divine Doula Goddess is set for Oct. 14 at Divine Doula Goddess, 1047 Murchison Road, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Doula Fair was the brainchild of Shatara Het- Heru Bey, local "spiritual doula," and owner of spiritual shop and birthing education center, Divine Doula Goddess. With BIPOC maternal and infant deaths on the rise, Het- Heru Bey and her co-organizers, Black Birth Rising, want this event to be an educational one, not only about maternal rights but the benefits of having a doula on a birthing team. There will be a prenatal meditation session led by Het-Heru Bey herself, an ask-a-doula breakout session and self-advocacy training. Het-Heru Bey hopes the event will clear up a few things and educate moms and dads alike. "There are so many misconceptions about what we do. A lot of people think that doulas are just for home births," she said. "Some people think doulas are just to deliver the baby, some people think that doulas mean you want a natural birth… also for people to know that they have access to black doulas in the community, there are many black doulas." Het-Heru Bey has been a professional doula since 2018. "I trained back in 2018 here in Fayetteville, I had a lot of different people tell me I needed to become a doula. I didn't know what a doula was," said Het-Heru Bey. "I was already advocating, and I was used to advocating for us, melanated bodies, indigenous bodies, as far as our rights in the hospital, immunizations and just awareness. Our babies, our bodies." In the midst of the pandemic, Het-Heru Bey felt the calling and acted on it, by opening up her brick-and-mortar in 2020. "We don't do anything clinical, we don't have that clinical feel; everything about me is ancestral energy, our culture, our traditions, our way of life, way of living, so that's the energy I usually come with," she said. After experiencing the loss of her third child, Nolen, to SIDS soon after her induction, Het-Heru Bey became an avid advocate for women's bodies and those of their babies. "At first it seemed normal, but then the more research I did, I realized that babies don't just suddenly die. And in also here in the United States, a lot of our babies, black babies, are dying," said Het-Heru Bey. "I then started diving in and doing my own research on black women, statistics, what happens medically with us, what happens when it comes to our babies and I was like, ok, this is not normal." Her focus now is to make sure moms here in Fayetteville are safe, whether they are delivering in the hospital or at home, and to educate a new generation of doulas. Het-Heru Bey offers a doula certification program that includes mentorship. Information about booking doula services and or becoming a doula can be found on her website, divinedoulagoddess. com. EVENT Shatara Het-Heru Bey is the organizer of the Doula Fair, held Oct. 14. AMBER LITTLE, Staff Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Lunch • Dinner • Special Events • Private Parties • 910-527-1467 Facebook.com/RBurgertruck • RBurgertruck@gmail.com Thanks to ALL for Your Support! 2021 Best food truck Come Enjoy R New Location! R Kitchen - 1006 Person Street, Fayetteville, NC 2022